#gwayne was obviously the one to suggest it

[helaenalyst]

this came to me in a vision and was drawn in a trance

[dwellordream]

thoughts on HOTD, episode 6, season 2 (spoilers below)

Some people are not a fan of Aemond's acting in this episode but I think it's perfectly on point. Even the stupid anime villain voice. That's what he is. Aemond is three kids in a trenchcoat playacting at what he thinks power and intimidation. He's only genuinely frightening when he is at his most pathetic and ashamed, because that is what compels him to do depraved things- the thought of being mocked or pitied.

Aemond releases Alicent from the Small Council, IMO, not because he genuinely thinks her incompetent, but because, aside from his general misogyny, he sees his mother as a woman who pities him, and while he craves her affection, he can't stand being reduced to a sniveling little boy in her eyes again.

I truly DNGAF about the 'Aeriana Targaryen' shit. They had to show Rhaenyra actually trying to come up with a reasonable cover for why Rhaenyra would encourage others to try to claim dragons without her throwing the concept of Valyrian supremacy out the window. Yes, the writers could have just decided to randomly make, say, Viserra or Gael Targaryen have wed a Darklyn, but I'm not really bothered that they didn't. Rhaena the Black Bride's daughter Aeriana by Maegor. Sure.

The writers seem to be trying to walk a thin line between Alys manipulating Daemon for kicks by preying on his insecurities regarding who 'deserves' the Iron Throne in his family, but the suggestion that Viserys 'never sought the throne' is wild. He put himself forward as a contender for the Great Council! I genuinely can't tell if we're meant to believe Alys truly thinks Rhaenyra could be a better ruler than Aegon, or if this is all supposed to be taken as her playing mind games with Daemon sheerly out of spite.

The foreshadowing that Rhaena will claim Sheepstealer, rather than Nettles, seems pretty strong at this point. I get the writers' desire to have Rhaena claim a dragon in a more active and assertive manner than simply patiently waiting for an egg to hatch for her, especially since Morning in-canon was not at all capable of being flown to war during the Dance. However, I wish we could see both Rhaena and Nettles tame dragons here, rather than one Black female character (in a show that already has a problem with shoving its Black characters to the sidelines) simply taking over another's storyline. It is possible they will still include Nettles, and have her claim a different dragon instead, but I'm losing hope.

Gwayne is a snotty racist asshole, obviously, but I commend the show for displaying that he does genuinely love Alicent and Daeron, who he seems to view as akin to his own son. It's surprising that he specifically praises Daeron's kindness, and seems to view it as a strength of his nephew's, rather than a weakness. In the grand scheme of HoTD men, Gwayne is probably one of the better ones, at least in terms of how he treats his family.

I thought the smallfolk riot scene was well-done. Alicent and Helaena are clearly not the ones responsible for the food shortage- Alicent has been booted off the Small Council and Helaena has no real political power herself. Yet they- and most noblewomen in the series- will always be blamed more viciously than any of their husbands or sons for the suffering. It's also good to see the foreshadowing of a more ruthless side of Hugh- while he is motivated by love for his family, he will do anything in order to protect them, including stealing food from other starving peasants.

Seasmoke chasing Addam Velaryon down like an over-eager puppy was pretty entertaining. Whether or not this implies Laenor is actually dead, I have no idea.

It's interesting that they have Mysaria confide about her own incestual abuse- her clearly viewing her father as a predator who horribly violated her- compared to Rhaenyra, who while openly critical of Daemon's behavior as a husband, and who does acknowledge that Daemon took advantage of her as a teenager- doesn't seem to see him as a monster. I don't really feel any type of way about Rhaenyra/Mysaria- obviously I do think Rhaenyra is bisexual, given everything about her and Alicent- but I don't think Mysaria has been used that well as a character by the show, and I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be a one-off moment of passion, or if they will actually have her and Mysaria in an illicit relationship moving forward.

Overall, I think this was one of the weaker episodes this season. It felt like a lot of wheel spinning because the writers were unsure of how to build up to the end of the season. Probably a 6.5 out of 10 for me.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

I was just wondering if you have any Daemon lives AU headcanons where instead of dying he's a hostage (Aegon and Aemon still die)

I have headcanons on what Daemon likes for breakfast (blueberries with clotted cream on toast), so it’d be odd if I didn’t have headcanons for this fascinating but utterly heartbreaking AU. 

See, we know from canon that Daemon takes the knightly code deadly seriously and also desperately loves his family. A worse man may have left Gwayne Corbray to bleed out rather than get him to a maester after a long duel, so he’s willing to put the safety of his opponents over his immediate goals. Furthermore, he refused to leave the field after Bl00draven shot Aegon and died trying to protect him from the field of arrows. Canon also shows Daemon to be a capable individual despite refusal to “cut corners” with dishonor, able to win all battles except the close-fought Redgrass and to mint coins despite less than a year between the start of the rebellion and his death. The idea that Bl00draven and Daemon may have had a closer relationship than apparent is popular in fandom based on BR’s comment in aDwD to the point that some speculate Daemon willingly told Brynden that he would crown himself (I don’t believe he would, but I’m willing to concede Daemon had warm feelings for the boy who was raised in KL with him). Yet Bl00draven had his children shot in front of him. What I’m saying is that watching his sons die due to a brother he once trusted would’ve caused Daemon to become a more ruthless, less compassionate person who would go great lengths to protect the rest of his family. He has to evaluate what family is and to consider that some people might not be able to be “saved” from a broken home, and that he can’t be “the hero” to the people who really needed him to be (in this case, his oldest sons and wayward brother). Think about those AU fics where Catelyn Stark survives the Red Wedding and invests all her energy into keeping Sansa safe from the Lannisters, except the Lannisters were people she loved.

Daemon is in a stronger position than you might think because the Reds have none of his family in custody. Aegon and Aemon are dead on the field, Aegor Rivers is either dead or escaped (I seriously doubt Bl00draven would capture Aegor alive when doing so gains him nothing), and Rohanne escaped to Tyrosh with her younger children (if she hadn’t already, as I’m sure she had an escape ship in case of Daemon’s defeat). So we have a situation where Rohanne with the force of her fleet want Daemon back and those at King’s Landing keeping Daemon I as a hostage to prevent this fleet from attacking. There aren’t any cases in awoiaf that I can think of where the leader of the rebellion/war was captured and not executed, although in the Dance Alicent and Helaena were suggested as headed for the Faith and Maegor’s Kingsguard had the opportunity to go to the Wall, so supposing Daemon doesn’t get executed the Wall may be his ultimate fate. That is, if there isn’t a plot to rescue him from KL (maybe Quickfinger the Notorious Thief is still at large and uses some light-fingered trickery/guard switching).

Baelor, Da3ron II, and Bl00draven rehash their canonical argument about the defeated rebels with the added wrinkle of Daemon still living. Baelor believed in clemency for the supporters of Daemon, so he might actually want Daemon go to trial and face his accusers in Da3ron and Bl00draven (in which case, obviously Daemon is going to want a Trial by the Seven with such Hanging Judges), which may end with a Wall sentence. Bl00draven wants the Blackfyre supporters crushed utterly and would advocate for Daemon’s execution without trial because he believes Daemon too dangerous to be left alive and whatever public statement he makes could lead to rioting. Then Da3ron, who canonically took lands and hostages from the rebels, brings the child hostages to King’s Landing where Daemon can see them from afar (since I don’t believe he’d be let out to mingle with them, but it would make him feel guilty at what happened to these kids “”because of him”” and also might deter him from escape.) All three of them may visit Daemon individually while he’s under house arrest, Bl00draven almost certainly (Daemon refuses to speak to him and does not buy his ‘it’s war so it’s OK to kill children’ excuses like BR hopes, leading BR into a characteristic self-pity spiral) and Baelor to try to convince him to take the black.

Daemon falls into a depression and has nightmares about watching his sons die. He loses weight from lack of activity and appetite, maybe even going on a hunger strike to agitate for certain privileges. Without any hot irons his naturally curly hair gains volume, and his natural resemblance to his mother Daena shines through; the parallels between Daena’s captivity in the Maidenvault and his in the Red Keep, both by brothers, isn’t lost on him (maybe Princess Elaena is allowed to visit and they have a conversation on that). He does quite a bit of writing about his captivity, his family, why he made the decision to rebel (if he did and it wasn’t an unjust arrest) in preparation for a hypothetical trial; if it goes on long enough, he might ask for Daeron I’s Conquest of Dorne to do commentaries on them regarding the nature of war and how “no one welcomes armed missionaries”; whether any of this writing is allowed to be published depends on if it could be smuggled out. Either way, any warm feelings for the current Targaryens he may have had are gone and if he agrees to play by their rules, it’d be out of desire to keep his remaining family away from KL. Da3ron is so paranoid about Daemon’s possible escape that he pulls a Cersei and constantly switches his guards so Daemon doesn’t form any attachments with them. Daemon ends up lonely, and initially is so lost in memories about deceased loved ones he doesn’t even think of escape, but supposing he gains more purpose in escape or getting out his message. 

Either the AU ends with Daemon’s mysterious “suicide” in prison or escape to Tyrosh. Daemon would absolutely lie to Baelor about agreeing to take the black because he could reason that an oath made to an enemy under duress isn’t binding (pre-Redgrass Daemon would probably not do this, but oathbreaking doesn’t seem terrible now), so that option is out. An execution would spark outcry over kinslaying similar to how Aegon II executed Rhaenyra (even though she’s considered an usurper, what he did to her is still thought of as barbaric), and Da3ron II understands this enough so that Bl00draven could kill Daemon in prison and claim it was due to grief over his murdered sons. Taking Daemon’s age, popularity, position in the royal family, and based on BR’s staunch anti-Blackfyre stance and Da3ron’s dislike, staying in Red custody is a death sentence. However, with his escape to Tyrosh, I have the feeling he and Rohanne would live a decent enough life in her city without wanting to go back to Westeros. After Aegon and Aemon’s deaths, an escaped!Daemon would not risk his children’s lives for rulership he doesn’t want or pointless revenge. I don’t even think Aegor still being alive in this AU would change his mind. Then the plot would focus on whether he and Rohanne can still live with each other over what happened with their children, and Daemon’s foray into Tyroshi politics plus more book-writing of the sort he’d do in hypothetical prison.

And now I just made myself sad. But how could I be anything else, as a fan of House Blackfyre?